Thursday, April 19, 2007

Thursday 04/19 A.M. Quickie:Bring On the NBA Playoffs (Please!)

UPDATE: Tomorrow is planned to be "Orange and Maroon Effect" Day. Wear the Virginia Tech colors, or put them on your blogs. I'll try to have some color changes on the blog -- what I'm really trying to find is a link to the "VT ribbon" jpg that I can put on the sidebar tomorrow. Just thought I'd pass that along to those who hadn't heard about it yet. (Update: Here's one from reader/blogger Travis Liles. And here's another.)

Distracting thoughts while contemplating what the love-child of Rosie O'Donnell and Jason Whitlock would look like...

NBA: End of Regular Season/Start of Playoff Season!

This NBA season has been totally lame. The top highlight was Henry Abbott's True Hoop blog being acquired by ESPN. (That's not to dis Henry in the slightest, but to show how thin the season's on-court highlights have been. Go True Hoop!)

When the league's uber-fan, Bill Simmons, has to resort to naming "The Fans" as his league MVP, it's the ultimate sign the sport has plummeted this year. (Snarkily, one might ask, "What fans?" Doesn't Bill like to say that there are only 10 "real" NBA fans left anyway?)

That said, with the exception of the way the NBA continues to schedule the first-round games to be dragged out as interminably as possible, the first round of the NBA Playoffs actually shape up with some truly compelling match-ups:

WEST:Mavs-Warriors (GoldenState plays -- and is playing -- precisely the kind of way that can shock Dallas... and they will.) Warriors in 7. (Yes, I know this is put-down-the-pipe crazy.)

Suns-Lakers (Nash-Kobe II? Delicious.) Suns in 6.

Spurs-Nuggets (I think the Spurs will win the West, but Denver is hot enough to shock.) Spurs in 7.

Jazz-Rockets (Eh, they can't all be compelling.) Rockets in 7.

EAST:Cavs-Wiz (Rematch from last season, this time with the Wiz without Gil Arenas – or Caron Butler. Seemingly an easy route for the Cavs, but you never know. Spoken like a truly misguided Wiz fan.) Cavs in 7 5. (Commenters have showed me the error of my ways, and that was before 9 a.m.!)

Raps-Nets (Vince Carter back in Toronto? Delicious.) Raptors in 7.

Heat-Bulls (Defending champs vs. the team with the most potential to assume the title mantle in the future.) Heat in 6.

Pistons-Magic (How about "Darko's Revenge?" If he can't motivate for this, he can't for anything.) Pistons in 5.

Feel free to add your own picks/analysis in the Comments now. Complete NBA playoff picks, through the Finals, coming tomorrow.

MLB Stud: Mark Buehrle, who not only pitched a no-hitter, but faced the minimum 27 batters.

MLB Dud: Felix Hernandez, who left the game in the first inning with elbow trouble. (Cue ominous bullpen music.)

NCAA: Panel votes to ban text messaging to recruits. This is ludicrous: It's how teens communicate. Come up with a way to deal with it besides simply trying to forget it exists. (I guess you could call it the "Meyer Rule," for the way Urban Meyer became so effective – so publicly – with texting.)

NCAA Spring Football: Mike Conley Jr. will be an honorary coach of OhioState's spring game. (Greg Oden couldn't do it.) Jim Tressel sure gives good pander. Conley says his extensive experience with football video games will help him call great plays. Like many of you, I actually have always wondered what would happen if teams gave the play-calling reins to someone with an expertise in football video gaming.

NFL Draft: The hot trend? 'Fessing up to college pot smoking at the combine. (1) The NFL p.i.'s will find out anyway; (2) you get tons of credit for being "mature"; (3) it gets the issue out on the table early and out of the way by April, when momentum really matters.

(I think this goes back to two things: Initially, the cautionary tale of Warren Sapp, who dropped based on draft-day rumors of pot-smoking. More recently, Luis Castillo admitting to steroid use up-front, yet still being a first-round selection. Agents saw the sea change.)

Colin Cowherd does it again: Last week, it was violating FCC regulations. This week it's hate speech. The funny thing is: He's not even a clever bigot. (Then again, I suppose most bigots rarely are.)

Here's the quote: "Olbermann is bright and talented and a really good broadcaster, but he's about as middle-america as a transgender film festival. He's a Northeast Intellectual Baseball Guy....he doesn't speak to the NFL fan at all!"

(1) There were plenty of ways to describe K.O. as not a fit in Middle America besides hate speech of ripping on the transgendered, who are an easy target for bigots/bullies. New ESPN ombudswoman LeAnne Schreiber could make her living on Cowherd alone.

(2) Olbermann doesn't speak to the NFL fan at all? I think the millions of fans who watched him talk about the NFL during the Golden Era of SportsCenter would disagree. And Cowherd's own bosses might resent the idea that an "intellectual" doesn't work for NFL fans; after all, they just named one of the great football intellectuals to sit in the "Monday Night Football" chair.

This first round of the playoffs looks like it could be the best ever. Every matchup in the west is interesting and I could see any of the teams winning the series, I don't think the Warriors will win the series but they will push the Mavs.

Cavs will win that series in 5, at the very most. The Wizards are fading faster than (*insert crass Colin Cowherd joke here) and don't have any chance to win more than 1 game in any week (see the last 3 for example). I guess, since the first round takes 3 weeks, maybe they could get to game 7.

Speaking of ridiculous ESPN radio talk, while the comment was offensive, the sentiment is not incorrect. I understand that 90% of the readers of this blog are from the Northeast and will disagree, but Olberman is long past his ESPN roots and is too divisive for FNIA. This move will alienate an entire fanbase. Heck, even Cowherd gets it.

I normally have ESPN radio on in the background at work, so I actually caught Cowherd's rant yesterday. I've already made it known that I cannot stand Keith Olbermann. But even what Cowherd said was a little off. I think Olbermann will be great in the sense that he does know sports (ie: him working for Sportscenter). I DO think Cowherd has the same worries that the majority of fans have...and that's Keith bringing a political statement into the show. WHICH IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN!

When I heard Dan was going to talk to Olbermann about the quotes, I decided to listen. Of course Olbermann acted like a jerk as always. He pretended to not know who Cowherd was and decided to treat him like a child. Immaturity on Keith's part to stoop to Colin's level.

It's just two douchebags fighting like little girls. And the sad thing is they suckered me into listening. I guess that's how you get good radio.

Again...Cowherd needs to stop pissing off random people and Olbermann needs to go get another hooker and prematurely ejaculate.

The Jazz surprise everyone and come in first in their division after winning only 26 games two seasons ago. The Rockets FINALLY get it together and have a phenominal season and actually had a better record than Utah. This will be a great series.

Yeah the first round of the nba playoffs might be great but since they take a month or more to play it is hard to get into a series or the playoffs at all. That is why the NHL playoffs are 100% times better then the NBA. The teams play every other night until a series is over.

NATS and REV, if you leave your personal hatred for KO aside you have to see what Cowherd said is wrong and biggoted. Hate Keith all you want by comment like that are wrong and should not be said.

And it is funny that you say the KO is long past is ESPN roots. I could of sworn he is on ESPN Radio for an hour everyday talking about sports. I am pretty sure he knows more about the NFL then the 2 of you combined.

I know your mad and think the Keith is the reason the conservatives do not have control of the congress anymore but that is not the reason. The reason is the person running that is running the country is running it is the wrong direction and a majority of the American People felt that there needed to be some balance in our government in order to keep things from getting worse. Keith only gets 800,000 or so viewer a night that is not going to effect 50 or 60 million people when only that many watch.

If the Mavs lose to the Warriors, the Dallas/Fort Worth area will implode. The Stars are about to spit the bit in the first round, the Rangers just got no-hit, the Cowboys are the very definition of fair-to-middling. It can't happen.

Now, if this were still a 5 game series, I could see it happening a la Mutombo's Nuggets over the Sonics. But, I can't see the Mavs losing a 7 game series to the Warriors unless Dirk, JHo and JET all get kidnapped. And if it happened, Mark Cuban would have to end it all after seeing Don Nelson dancing on the Mav's graves.

Two things: (1) Note how I changed my crack-smoking "Cavs in 7" to a more reasonable "Cavs in 5." Any non-Wiz fan would agree with that. (And most Wiz fans, too, actually.)

(2) Make no mistake: Picking the Warriors over the Mavs in 7 is as crazy as picking 16-seed Oral Roberts to beat 1-seed Memphis. The 7-game format makes upsets very unlikely -- that was one of the biggest problems with the switch from the 5-game to the 7-game format.

I just felt like I needed one big, bold (read: "insane") pick, and I happen to really like this one right now.

The transgendered part was a bigoted, low-blow by Cowherd. But the rest of his points about Olbermann were on the mark. Olbermann comes across as a snooty, know-it-all who believes he is better than everyone else. Maybe there is a polo or windsurfing competition he can comment on if he wants to do sports again.

Mavs losing to Golden State? A team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 94? I cant take you seriously anymore. Here is the difference in the Warriors and the Mavs: Golden State has confetti celebrations when they beat teams like Dallas in March (they did in fact have one after their win), Dallas has confetti celebrations when the beat teams like PHX and SA 4 times in May and June. Like I said, I can't take you seriously anymore.

Maybe I'm a bigot too (I don't think so), but I don't really see the point of getting all upset about the Transgender comment. Transgendered people aren't exactly "middle America," and I don't think anyone would think they are.

There's been some misguided comments about political spectrum on here and some really, REALLY dumb ones today (I won't mention names). So, unless you want this blog to devolve into a fire-throwing contest, just stop.

As much as people hate KO, you can't excuse what Coward said. Just like, much as I hate women's bball, I can't excuse what Don Imus said.

And what is this N-B-A people are talking about? Didn't someone throw a no-hitter yesterday?

Heard about the no hitter but he pitches for the other Chicago team. Actually I do like Buerhle even though I am a Cubs fan.

AJ however is an ASS (A good friend of mine drafted out of UGA played ball with him A ball. My friend was a pitcher so I believe him that AJ is an ass.) so I would have preferred anyone else catch it besides AJ.

I agree -- let's stick to sports. I do agree that what Cowherd said was offensive (see previous post) and I did not attack Olberman or show any hate.

What I did say, as it relates to sports, is that Olberman is a divisive individual and could have that type of impact on FNIA. If I were putting together the most expensive sports program for a network and trying to win over as large of a fan base as possible, I would pick a commentator who is as knowledgable about the game as he is vanilla in his personality. Having Rush Limbaugh or KO or anyone who could be considered not appealing to the masses is not how networks appeal to viewers.

Heck, I think that James Carvel is as funny as they come and actually enjoy seeing him speak. But if I were building a network franchise event (such as FNIA), I probably wouldn't put him on the air every week.

I saw the final three innings, and Buehrle was sharp last night. I'm a Cub fan, too, but I enjoy watching him pitch. He works fast and throws strikes -- what a concept! Wish more guys had that kind of M.O.

Normally I might say that this was biggoted but it was Cowherd that said it. I sometimes listen to his show, and he has said numerous times that he doesn't have a problem with anybody; blacks, gays, martians, are all the same to him. I think he was just using an example of something that the random white american football fan just doesn't relate to. I read the quotes, and he also said something about KO being an "elitist baseball guy". This may be true, and I think that's what he was trying to say. That said, I love KO esspecially with DP on the "big show" and look forward to seeing him on FNIA.

Rush talks sports on his show everyday. Rush knows more football than Olbermann. Keith admitted he doesn't know much about football, but he knows how to do highlights and will sell the product.

Look, again, it's not a dem/rep thing. 1.) I think all of these pregame/postgame shows are already over crowded. 2.) I think they should have 1 host named either Jim Nantz, Bob Costas, or James Brown. Everyone else should be ex-players.

I HATE Cowherd. I'll get that out of the way. He sucks. COmpeltely sucks. But I don't see how his remarks are bigoted. He was pointing out that a transgender film festival is not Middle America. Well, it's not. That's like saying country music is not New York City. It's not. I don't see why we'rer getting so upset about this.

First of all, to those of you who like to "just talk sports" I applaud your effort. I would love if we only talked sports, but that's a load of crap because we almost never just talk sports on this page.

Second, all the comments about KO and his politics are ridiculous. Just calm the fuck down.

"Olbermann comes across as a snooty, know-it-all who believes he is better than everyone else. Maybe there is a polo or windsurfing competition he can comment on if he wants to do sports again."

Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? You could plug in the name Hoge or Salisbury or Marino or Bayless or any other talking head that doesn't know shit into that quote and it would make perfect sense. Personally I'd rather have an intelligent, well-spoken guy talking sports with intelligent things to say regardless of his politics instead of Bettis, Sharpe (both of them), Esiason, Bradshaw, Theismann whoever who is only there because they are a former player.

So honestly, calm the fuck down, realize that idiots almost exclusively do these types of shows, and most importantly remember that it doesn't fucking matter. Do you really care about the pre-game? We're talking pregame!?! (Iverson voice)

Christ, if you want to complain, complain about the in-game broadcasters who ruin the actual game itself. Seriously, who gets this upset about the pre-game?

Oh, and if you use the phrase "maybe I'm a bigot too" than yes, chances are you are a bigot too.

I'd prefer NO ex-players, actually. Baseball radio booths do it just fine in a lot of cities. Many of the ex-players are unintelligible, and very few of them actually educate the viewers. A couple of smart passionate fans are really all you need to do a give-and-take over highlights.

Look for the Mavs to sweep GS. GS only *thinks* they can play with Dallas, and I sense this as a chance for Dallas to make an early statement.

I think the easiest sum-up of Cowherd is that ESPN radio in New York cut his show to make time for a show for Stephen A. Smith. Really, that's pretty bad, no?

The other thing that kinda sucks about the NBA playoffs is that too many teams really do make it. Aren't Chicago and Houston really the first time the 5 seeds were ever a legitimate threat to make a splash? (Maybe fewer playoff teams makes the lottery better, too.)

yeah but Brian the opposite happen in Boston, ESPN890 gave him an extra hour and got rid of Jim Rome whent hey changed the Hours of the Mike Felger show. So basically they got rid of one crappy radio host who act is so old and dryed up and he does not realize it for a guy who is just not good.

i don't agree with olberman oin mot political things (it doesn;t matter though) but he will do highlights well which if i am not mistaken will be his job. You do not have to know a sport to do hgihlights thats why tehy have 15 analysts.

however, i just bought the Tiger Woods golf game for the Wii. It's fantastic. I can't putt to save my life..and water hazards like me..but its hella fun to swing the club instead of pushing a joystick.

Hasn't the NFL fining Urlacher for the vitaminwater hat given them infinitely more publicity than they received when he wore the hat? I'm sure they'll happily pay Urlacher's fine, cheap advertising for spots on every sports show and website.

KO: On DP he said he was just doing highlights and no analysis which should be an excellent role for him. People concerned about his political slants shouldn't be too worried as he won't have much opportunity to spout off asides.

NBA: How do 7-game 1st round series make it less likely for an 8 seed to win? Didn't it only happen once in the history of the NBA playoffs (DEN Nuggets over OKC So- er, SEA Sonics)? It's hard to be more rare than once in history when 7-game series have only been around for a couple of years.

is what cowherd said really a bigoted remark? Would a transgendered film festival fit in in middle America. I don't like the guy but let's not call the P.C. police on an analogy just because he is anti bloggers. It is ridiculous to call this a bigotted remark. is noone allowed to say anything about anyone anymore without it being blown out of proportion? maybe we should only use plastic objects for our analogies. Perhaps KO would fit in like a barbie toy at an organic being contest???

You missed the obligatory "Who had April 18 in the King Felix goes down pool?"- or are you saving it for his offical DL stint?

The NCAA is always one step behind. Go ahead, take away text messaging. Heck, even by extension, take away email. Wake me up when they ban the laptop video cam. Or better still, wake me when they start nabbing coaches' blogs that covertly recruit top prospects.

First of all, partial birth abortions are straight up murder. The fact that...

Ok, I was joking. There was a rumomr going around, I won't say from who, that when the Mavs made the decision to rest their bigs against the Warriors on Tuesday night the players were quite worried.

Let's face it, the Warriors have a much better chance against the Mavs than the Clippers. That said, The Mavs rested the big guys on tuesday against the Warriors, but not last night against the Sonics.

Think about that. You felt the need to rest your guys 2 games before the playoffs but not the game before?

The Warriors don't get to play the Mavs if the Mavs beat them on Tuesday. Why didn't they even try? Were they scared of looking like they cared? Scared of losing a third straight time to them this season?

Dan, Arod continues his tear, but no word from you. Dice-K continues his dominant pitching, and your all over his balls. Being a yankee-hater is one thing, but not giving Arod his due after talking trash like everyone else is being a pussy. What a homer...

OK, so now that we have debated what makes you a sports fan - childhood team, adopted team, whatever... what makes someone a resident?

I mean, I grew up in the midwest. Went to college in the northeast. Have lived in 10 states and a few countries. But now I live in DC. So, should I be offended by the talk of stupid midwesterners? or should I be relieved that I escaped?

Dan grew up near DC, but went to school in Chicago. Are those his formative years? What about his Boston/ NYC years? hmm.......

In the Blue and White game Saturday, Penn State is encouraging fans to wear orange and maroon for Va Tech. Also they are giving out 800 shirts for people who want to participate in a Virginia Tech logo in the stands

In regards to Vick, it's nice to see him give something to help families with funeral and transportation expenses. I won't rip the guy for only giving 10K when he doesn't have to give anything. Could he give more? Of course. But why should we expect him to give more?

The cynic in my is hoping that he came to this decision himself and didn't do it because his PR guys said it would help his image after his past incidents.

I'm guessing that if Rosie O'Donnell and Jason Whitlock had a love child, the child would be slightly overweight and green. The green part is just so that it would stand out and make people want to talk about it every day. In fact, it would be Rosie who painted it green.

Early all-star voting is purely a popularity contest. But, so is all all-star voting, so I guess it fits. I have seen and joined both sides of the debate, and as a fan of a team, I would love to see Zimmerman be an all-star (he did get jobbed out of rookie of the year and gold glove both last year), but as a fan of the game I would rather see David Wright. I guess, if I was advocating Dmitri Young as my favorite player, that would change the argument some....

Somebody tell me how Kevin McHale has not been fired yet. The guy even sold himself out today...

"I don't want to walk away with the team in this state," said McHale, who said this year's team resembled the "dysfunctional" squad he inherited when he was named vice president in 1995.

"It was a bad season, there's no other way you can say it," McHale said. "It was a bad year and I did a bad job. That's the way it is."

Seriously explain to me how someone holds a job for over a decade and admits his "company" (see: team) is no better off today than it was when he started running the ship (into the ground).

If I had not improved my company in 12 years, I would have been canned loooong ago- and I work for my family's business!

I think the Celtics should hire Kevin McHale to GM under Danny Ainge. Then we could have more than our share of "The Three Stooges" parodies in the Boston media. Ainge would be Moe, McHale as Larry, and Doc Rivers as Shemp- yes, he doesn't even deserve to be Curly.

If you can't understand how Kevin McHale still has a job then how can any reasonable rational semi-intelligent person explain Isiah Thomas having a job?

Despite having one of the worst teams the last few years, the Knicks have traded away their draft picks, have one of the highest payrolls and least flexibility against the salary cap in the NBA for the next few years. As bad as they are, they are doomed to get worse.

Like someone said in today's daily rant in the newspaper, if Dolan will keep concentrating on the Knicks, maybe the Rangers have a chance of winning. Funny but true.

MLB: Not having seen Sosa get picked off, I wonder if Buerhle balked... :)

Cowherd: The local ESPN affiliate runs a commerical for his show and he's talking about how football has more action in it than baseball...except he forgets that football games in person are really quite boring because you don't get all the TV replays of the last play while the players stand around and let the clock run down. He also mentions how fast a football game is...even though the timed 60 minutes takes just as long as 9-innings.

Actually, "transgender" is a common name given to the individual who was born with genitalia of 1 sex or the other, but distinctly expresses mental, emotional, and physical states of the opposite sex to which their anatomical parts were assigned at birth. Transgendered persons suffer gender identity issues because they innately relate better to the gender opposite to which they were "assigned" both biological and by society.

Sorry, I am not one to go all academia or P.C., but I saw misinformation to which I thought people should be aware.

dwk I have to agree who cares about the pregame. The only time I listen is if I can get the home team's broadcast since the ones for the bucs, gators, ning, and rays are actually pretty good. I just find that most of sports radio is too repetitive. The guys on Fox radio, Rome, etc just bore me unless it is some truly interesting player. So many athletes are such poor speakers that it get on my nerves. However I do have a soft spot for Steve Dumig on 620 am in Tampa.

MY boss is hoping the magic can take it 7 games if only so business is packed but I hated to break it to her that they are probably going to get swept.

Man the d-rays are fun to watch this year. They have so much talent. If only they could get it together on a regular basis. One can always dream.

I love following day baseball. Being a Cubs fan, I do get my fair share, I guess.

But, it sucks knowing I had tickets to the Nats game today, but am sitting in my office while they almost pulled off a 9th inning comeback. This would suck extra bad, as I was at work when they pulled off their first 9th inning comback of the year 2 weeks ago (4 in the 9th off the Marlins).

yanksfan...only the Tribe makes the Yankees look so good.What a crap series. boo-hiss.And it's not even like I'm an A-Rod hater...I actually like him, especially if I had to choose between him and Jeter.Damn, damn, damn. We need a closer.

You know what pisses me off? Atlanta not scheduling their game today during the day even though both the Braves and the Cubs have away games tomorrow and the Cubs game is a day game. Gee, that's nice. The Cubs get done playing at 9ish, fly into Chicago at 1ish, and then have to play another game tomorrow at 1ish. Granted, the Cubs could have scheduled tomorrows game for in the evening, but still, a day game for the Cubs-Braves today would benefit both teams.

All the more reason for the Braves to show a little humanity and schedule today's game during the day. Plus, I could have watched it on MLB.TV. During the evenings, all the idiot World of Warcraft players get on the stupid slow ass college network and suck up all the bandwidth. The video will never load.

Have to say that I was psyched to see that Dan and a couple of others are predicting the Warriors in 7. Any amount of positive mental energy has to help. The vast majority of the brackets on Ballhype are going the other way (Mavs 106 picks, Warriors 29 picks) although not as lop-sided as the Cavs-Wizards or Pistons-Magic series.http://ballhype.com/contest/nba/playoffs/2007/bracket/

I hate Cowherd too, but I actually kinda think he's right on this one. I'm just not sure exactly what he'll provide to their show. I'll watch, because I love Keith, but I don't really think it's a good fit.

I still don't know why every network in the universe hasn't tried to get him as a color guy for a baseball booth - that's his sport, and the pauses between pitches would allow him to dip into his deep anecdote/knowledge well. Can't we get ESPN to fire Joe Morgan and put Keith on instead?

Travis, i agree...if he does not show up in the Boston series, he will get booed like hell from the so-called Yankee fans. Even yesterday before he hit a homer, he was booed when he struck out to go 0-3...this is downright pathetic.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.